


Need to Know

by nagi_schwarz



Series: Number The Stars [19]
Category: Numb3rs, Stargate Atlantis, Thoughtcrimes (2003)
Genre: AU, Crossover, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2016-04-25
Packaged: 2018-06-04 09:45:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6652894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagi_schwarz/pseuds/nagi_schwarz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the comment_fic prompt:<i>Thoughtcrimes/Numb3rs/Stargate Atlantis, Amita Ramanujan/Charles Eppes, I'll show you around.</i> Charlie goes to Atlantis.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Need to Know

The fancy military car drove them to what looked like an abandoned lot and let them all out. Charlie’s mind was spinning with the information overload - Brendan was an NSA agent undercover with the Air Force on super-secret expedition to the lost city of Atlantis, which really had been sunk beneath the waves, only in another galaxy, and it had been sunk voluntarily through massively advanced technology, and now the city was un-sunk. Ronon and the pretty woman, Teyla, were both human-aliens from the other galaxy, and Rodney McKay was one of the minds behind the McKay-Miller Interdimensional Bridge ( _still working out the kinks on that, don’t try it_ ).  
  
So Charlie could only blink dazedly when Brendan reached into his pocket, drew out a small cuboid device, and then a spaceship shimmered into existence.  
  
“Pretty nice cloaking tech the Ancients had,” Brendan said. He pressed another button on the device, and a ramp lowered so they could all go in.   
  
“How does it fly?” Charlie asked. Larry would be beside himself with excitement.  
  
Brendan grinned. “Rodney could tell you the physics behind it. But I can fly it with my mind.” And a fancy holographic display appeared without Brendan touching a thing. Then he slid into one of the pilot seats. Rodney sat beside him.  
  
“Are you a pilot too?” Charlie asked.  
  
“No, but I have the gene that allows me to activate Ancient technology,” Rodney said.  
  
“Rodney only gets to pilot if I’m dead,” Brendan said, and Rodney rolled his eyes.  
  
Charlie was highly disoriented when the spaceship lifted off, the view out the front window obviously moving, and he didn’t feel a thing.  
  
“Inertial dampeners,” Rodney said.  
  
Charlie could only watch, awed, as the world sped by below them, and they headed for San Francisco Bay. Brendan was on the radio with both civilian and military air traffic control (his flight call sign for the civilians was Roundhouse Zero Six, and for the military it was The Hair) all the way to the Bay, and one moment there was just a massive circular navy blockade, and Brendan spoke to someone on the radio, and suddenly there was as giant alien city.  
  
Brendan piloted the spaceship into a bay through a door in a roof and landed. Charlie peered through the window at all of the other spaceships, and then he saw -   
  
Amita. Wearing a gray and blue uniform, carrying a datapad and having a conversation with a wild-haired, bespectacled man in a similar uniform.  
  
The rear hatch slid open and Charlie tumbled out, ready with a greeting, and came up short, because whatever Amita and the man were speaking, it wasn’t English.  
  
“Welcome to Atlantis,” Brendan said, clapping Charlie on the shoulder.  
  
Amita turned to them, cutting herself off mid-sentence, and her expression was unreadable. But then she smiled.  
  
“Charlie. It’s good to see you again.”  
  
Brendan was already unbuttoning his fancy jacket. “I’m going to get back into my regular uniform. Teyla, Ronon, will you check in with Lorne? Make sure military muster is going all right. Rodney -”  
  
Rodney had taken Amita’s datapad and was arguing with the bespectacled man in a combination of numbers, formulas, and French.  
  
“Right.” Brendan smiled ruefully. He nodded at Amita. “Why don’t you show our old friend around?”  
  
Amita cast Brendan a look that Charlie couldn’t interpret. Brendan arched an eyebrow, cocked his head, and something unspoken passed between them.  
  
Then Amita stepped forward, hugged Charlie. “Welcome to Atlantis,” she said. “Come see the place.”

She started with the jumper bay, since they were already there, introduced him to Dr. Zelenka, who smiled at him briefly before resuming squabbling with Rodney. Amita led him to Ops so he could see the Stargate itself, all of the Ancient control consoles. Charlie noticed everyone wore the same gray uniform, but with different-colored patches. They greeted Amita, and she introduced Charlie as a new civilian math consultant, which everyone took in good stride.   
  
As they walked, Charlie lost track of the words, caught up in Amita’s voice and gestures and the way she smiled when she showed off the fancy locks on the doors that initiated with the swipe of a hand, and the fancy conference room, and the database with the interactive hologram. He studied the way the light gleamed on her hair, and the familiar rhythm of her stride, and the line of her throat.  
  
He couldn’t help the tiny stab of jealousy whenever they ran into someone who asked Amita where Shep was, because weren’t they always attached at the hip? Who was the new guy? Amita laughed and joked right back with them, Shep had Colonel-y things to do, like be the military commander of this outfit, and they’d be seeing a lot more of Charlie from now on, because he was a math wizard compared to her.  
  
Charlie wasn’t surprised to see Ronon throwing down with marines in one of the training rooms, but he was surprised to see Teyla doing the same, and he vowed to never get on either of their bad sides.   
  
The view from the balcony was beautiful.   
  
“So, this is Atlantis,” Amita said.  
  
“It’s amazing. I think it’ll take me a while to wrap my head around it.” Charlie shook his head ruefully. “It’s just - wow. My whole world-view has been shaken up. I need to adjust. Aliens. Wormholes. Alternate dimensions. You. Brendan working undercover for the NSA but as an Air Force officer.”  
  
Amita blinked at him. “You know his real name?”  
  
“Yeah. We were in math classes together at Cal Tech. He never told you?”  
  
“He told me he went to Cal Tech and was a math major. I knew that. But he never -” Amita turned to him, posture defensive. “Did you know my real name?”  
  
It was Charlie’s turn to blink. “Your real name?”  
  
Amita bit her lip. “Charlie, why did you come here?”  
  
“To see you. And for the chance of a lifetime, obviously, but -”  
  
“Before you make your final decision, there’s something you need to know. My real name is Freya McAllister. I’m Brendan Dean’s partner at the NSA. And I’m a telepath.”


End file.
